They
might not admit it, but the howling winds earlier this week
probably gave at least some of the organizers of the Dance
Flurry some stressful flashbacks. Last year the beloved dance-and-more
festival was all but canceled, shrunk down to a six-hour,
two-venue event after wind storms left Saratoga Springs without
power.

Those
who came to the rented-generator-powered mini-Flurry made
the best of it, but the organization was left with at least
an $82,000 debt that threatened to soar up to $120,000 if
people claimed ticket refunds. To say nothing of the money
needed in the bank to start 2007’s festival—which will be
held Feb. 16-18, again in locations around Saratoga Springs.

“After
the Flurry’s over, usually there’s two or three months where
you don’t have to worry about it,” said Peter Davis, co-director
of the festival. “But what we had to do after Flurry [last
year] was go into immediate fund-raising mode.”

Spontaneous
benefit concerts and dances had started the very weekend of
the disaster, and some on the organizing committee wanted
to go on to organize more formal fund-raising events. But,
Davis said, “My daughter-in-law looked me in the eye and said
‘You know, just ask people for money and they’re going to
give it to you. You don’t have to do these labor-intensive
events.’ ”

She was
not underestimating. “Two weeks later I played at a contra
dance in New York City and they came up with $3,000,” said
Davis. Within three months, with little more than appeal letters,
the Flurry had raised $100,000. A full 90 percent of ticket
holders declined to request refunds, and many performers waived
some or all of their fees. “We have an amazing community,”
said Paul Rosenberg, the festival’s founder.

The Flurry
has relied on providence before, noted Rosenberg. In 1993,
a blizzard reduced attendance by about 60 percent from expectations,
and they found themselves $8,000 to $10,000 in the hole. With
two hours left to go, one announcement from the stage and
a passing of the hat raised $7,000. The next year, a flood
left them without a venue three weeks before the festival.
They relocated from Guilderland to Saratoga Springs with only
a week to spare, and managed to redirect nearly all the attendees
(without the Internet) to the new location.

Given
that history, “I was totally confident about making up the
$90,000,” said Rosenberg, explaining that gatherings for traditional
dance and music like this one take the place of “church or
synagogue” for many of the people who come. In fact, Rosenberg
was so optimistic that he was against starting to carry event
insurance this year. (The organizing committee overruled him
on that one.)

Still,
the recovery was an amazing enough feat that as this year’s
festival was approaching, Flurry organizers found themselves
needing to do a little publicity locally to let people know
that the event had indeed survived. “Some people thought it
wasn’t happening at all,” said Davis. “Some of my neighbors
said, ‘Oh, we thought you guys were finished.’ ”

Far from
finished, the Dance Flurry will be celebrating its 20th anniversary
this year with, as long-time performer Don Dworkin of DDE
Music describes it, “a flurry of activities, flurry of dancers,
flurry of people.”

Over
its two decades the festival has grown well beyond its roots
in traditional American social dance (namely contras and squares).
There’s an active swing-dance contingent, plus social dance
from all over the world—from Afro-Brazilian street samba to
hiphop to nihon buyo (a traditional Japanese dance). At the
dance museum there’s a chance to cross over into performative
dance with classes in modern and ballet. There’s also a wide-range
of nondance offerings, inspired, said Rosenberg, by the dancers
who wanted a way to entice their nondancing significant others
to make the trip: classes for complete dancing beginners,
instrument technique workshops, pub sings, storytelling workshops,
drum circles. And, of course, there’s the omnipresent jamming.

“People
think of it as just a bunch of guys with pony tails and beards,”
said Dworkin, but that’s far from the case. “You go from room
to room and you practically go around the world.” Of course
one could also still contra the whole weekend away in the
City Center’s main hall. But most people will branch out a
little.

“Part
of the passion is that it gives people a chance to try other
things that they would never ever go to [a whole event on],”
explained Rosenberg. “It’s like a really good potluck.”

This
year, as always, organizers are hoping to get a little more
turnout from their Capital Region neighbors. The hotels have
been sold out for months to people who come from all over
the country, but the event is somewhat less high-profile in
its own backyard.

The Dancy
Flurry Festival wil be held Feb. 16-18 in Saratoga Springs.
The full schedule can be found at www.dance flurry.org/festival.
Ticket prices range from $30 to $85.

—Miriam
Axel-Lute

Art
Beat

The
pornstar and the “dyke playboy”: (l-r) Sprinkle and
Stephens.

THE
REAL PUSSYCAT DOLLS: “What happens when former porn star,
sexologist and performance artist Annie Sprinkle falls
madly in love with experimental artist, professor and sexy
dyke playboy Elizabeth Stephens?” Well, the answer
is simple: magic and performance art. On Valentine’s Day (Wednesday,
Feb. 14, duh) at 7 PM, Sprinkle and Stephens will bring their
Love Art Laboratory project to the Sanctuary for
Independent Media (3361 6th Ave., Troy)—thanks to the
good folks at RPI’s iEAR Presents! This evening of
multi-media presentations will, we are promised, challenge
us to explore “sexual and familial love to bring about social
change.” Sprinkle, who was the first porn star to earn a Ph.D.,
started out in porn in the golden ’70s. How she went from
starring in old-school flicks like The Devil Inside Her
to becoming a pro-sex feminist performance artist is fascinating;
Google her name to find the details. (Hey, there’s only so
much space here.) Her latest project, with her partner, Stephens,
is the Love Art Laboratory, a seven-year project begun in
2004 to explore the various facets of love in art. The themes
change each year; this year’s are “courage and power.” Admission
is $10, $5 for students and low-income citizens. For more
info, call 276-4829 or visit www.arts.rpi.edu.

THE PERFORMANCE
ARTIST AND THE DJ: This year’s 4th annual Berkshire Conference,
a forum for “exploring the social, cultural and economic ramifications
of the dynamic and increasingly complex interaction between
the worlds of business and culture,” will be held at the Clark
Art Institute. First, the bad news: Most of the proceedings
are not open to the public. The good news? A few seats
are still available to the public for the opening address
by author, actress and performance artist Anna Deveare
Smith. Smith, who wrote and performed (among other works)
the spellbinding, award-winning Twilight: Los Angeles 1992,
will be introduced and interviewed by DJ Spooky, whose
own audio-visual works are pretty interesting. Smith’s lecture
is tomorrow night (Friday, Feb. 9) at the Clark (225 South
St., Williamstown, Mass.); for reservations, call (413) 458-0524.

UNHAPPY
CHANGE IN SCHEDULE: Capitol Chamber Artists regular
cellist Helene Annas was injured in an automobile accident
recently; we wish her well, and a very speedy recovery. CCA
will still be presenting their concerts in Albany and Vermont
this weekend, though, with the kind help of cellist Andre
O’Neill. The program, Valentine’s Day in Music, will feature
music by (among others) Fritz Kreisler, Robert Schumann and
Max Steiner. The Saturday evening start time—7 PM at the First
Congregational Church (405 Quail St., Albany)—is unchanged,
but the Sunday concert at the Community Hall in Benson,
Vt., has been moved to 3 PM. Admission is $16, $8 students.
For more info, call 458-9231.

FEEL
THE CASHMERE, BE ED WOOD: Recently, we heard the intriguing
news that this year’s Ed Wood Film Festival will be
migrating over to the Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany.
(Full disclosure: I served as a judge a couple of years ago
when the festival was held at the Lionheart, and former Metroland
salesdude Michael McGrath was a featured actor in an
excellent short comedy about urinal etiquette shown in competition.)
While the festival isn’t until Sept. 21-22, there’s something
to get excited about now. In addition to the usual short-film
competition, there is a “microsode” screenplay contest.
Right this minute—or pretty damn soon—send your 5-minute long
script to the EdWood folks (www.ewfilms.com). The judges—a
secretive lot—will choose 16 winners, and the scripts will
be cast and filmed in one day at one of the Spectrum 8 parking
lots. Yes, a parking lot on Delaware Avenue will be transformed
into a glamorous Hollywood-style back lot. Sweet. Go to the
Web site for info; if you have any questions, e-mail info@ewfilm.com.